Thursday, 7 August 2008

This month for the Paper Chef we had to use the following ingredients:Fresh oregano, Walnuts, Chickpea or Chickpea flour andFish steaks.

Now what to do with these ingredients?After a trip to our local market for fish I settled on creating a salad of some type. A bit of discussion with Paul as to how to combine the ingredients we settled on the following combination:

Gently sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil along with the chilli till soft.Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the pan along with the finely shredded oregano.Gently stir the chickpeas till they are heated through & coated with the onion mixture. Season with salt. Remove from the heat & toss with the rocket.

For the Fish:2 rainbow trout fillets, cut into steaksChickpea flour

Dust the trout steaks with flour. It prevents the fish from sticking to the pan .Pan fry over medium heat skin side down for about 1 minute then turn over and fry for a further 1 minute, or until cooked to your liking.Drain on paper towel to remove the excess oil.

For the Pesto:100g walnuts, roasted till goldenLots of fresh parsley and oregano50ml olive oilSalt & pepper to season

Lemon zest & juice (to taste)

Throw it all into a food processor & blend. Add lemon zest & juice to taste & season as needed.If the pesto is a bit thick add some water to dilute.

And to assemble:Place the warm salad on a plate & arrange the trout steaks around salad and serve with pesto on the side.